The Boot - Three Years On - 15. Chapter 15

Saturday morning arrived and a usually quiet Barton household was in the grips of a teenage frenzy as Danny was excitedly getting ready to visit JJ. Kate was preparing breakfast and Steve sat listening to the radio while drinking a mug of tea staring out of the window with a smile on his face.

“Come on whats with that big grin,” Kate was pointing at Steve with the frying pan in her hand.

Steve placed his mug on the table and faced Kate, “I was just thinking about Alex, all this time he's spent living on the street when he could have been living in comfort it doesn't make sense really, but then finding out what happened to him in the past it shouldn't surprise me, the effects of PTSD affect different people in different ways. But you know I'm happy for him, he deserves a break after everything he's been through, I just hope he uses his money wisely and that nobody try's to take advantage of him.”

“Steven Barton! I hope that your comment isn't directed at Ian and Kevin, you of all people should know that they genuinely care for Alex and are not like that”

Steve held his hand up, “That's not what I mean at all, I know the relationship that they have and I think it's great, I mean other people that he comes into contact with. We both know that there are some at The Boot that would enjoy relieving him of his money and who knows what some unscrupulous people will do. He's usually pretty level headed so I hope he remains that way. Anyway even he doesn't know how much it is yet, that, he needs to find out this coming week and it may not be much when all is said and done. But if it gives him some independence and security then what ever it is it will be good.”

“Yeah I see what you mean, only time will tell.” Kate then changed the subject, “Now can you do something useful and try to calm Danny, if he carries on like this he will be out of energy before he gets to see JJ and the way he's banging about up there he won't have a bedroom left, either that or he might hurt himself.”

“No problem.” Steve got up from his chair and kissed Kate on the cheek before heading upstairs.

Just then the morning news came on the radio.......

…...

Jim had got up early that morning leaving a sleeping Beccy in bed. He had plans and made his way out the door heading for the 24 hour supermarket, it was his only hope of getting what he wanted.

Arriving home he felt proud of himself he had the makings of a breakfast that Beccy had previously said that she dreamed of, she had read about it in many books that she read about life in Canada. It cost more than he thought it would but she was worth it in his eyes, bacon, sausage patties, eggs, buttermilk pancake mix and the most important ingredient, real maple syrup.

He followed the instructions on the box to make the pancakes, put the bacon and sausage patties on to cook and started scrambling the eggs. When he had finished cooking he set it out on two plates, pancakes first then the bacon and sausage on top followed by the scrambled eggs. Putting everything on a tray with the maple syrup and two glasses of orange juice, not forgetting the single red rose that he had bought, he made his way upstairs.

As he opened the bedroom door he could hear the radio and Beccy spoke, “Where have you bee...” she was overwhelmed at the sight of her big hunk of a man with a breakfast tray for them both, there were tears of joy in her eyes as she saw the effort that he had put into everything. “I love you.” she said.

“I love you too.” Jim placed the tray carefully on Beccy's lap and got back into bed next to her. “Now before we eat I need to ask.. no I want to ask you something. Beccy will you please do me the honour of marrying me.” He looked at her hopefully like a puppy dog waiting for a treat.

Beccy looked at him with a radiant smile on her face, she felt a lump forming in her throat and swallowed then whispered, “Yes.” as she kissed him.

They tucked into breakfast with great gusto liberally covering it with maple syrup, it tasted even better than Beccy imagined it would. They talked enthusiastically about their plans and agreed that they needed to ask Alex for his approval and if he agreed then Alex was to give the bride away.

As they finished breakfast the news came on the radio......

…...

As Steve had been sent home the previous evening it left Jeff and Andy to prepare breakfast and feed The Boots guests, everything had now been cleared away and all but one of the guests had left. Jeff and Andy took a young and naïve seventeen year old into the office for coffee and a chat.

As was normal practise at The Boot when a minor turned up at the door they were never turned away even when they were at full capacity. Extra support was offered and where possible they were put in contact with other organisations that specifically helped young homeless people. Because of past affiliations this often involved the Edward Langford House Trust.

It took some coaxing, but with Jeff's skills they managed to put the young man at ease. First finding out his name, Kenneth Holt or Kenny as he preferred to be known. As he relaxed more, they discovered more. This skinny bespectacled youngster with a stammer was a prime target for bullies and being taken advantage of.

“Kenny if you can tell us more about your circumstances and why you ended up on the street maybe we, or Jeff, can help you. It upset me last night when I found you being bullied by those other lads.” Andy showed real interest and was genuinely upset seeing Kenny being bullied.

“A..A..Andy i..i..its hard for m..me t..to ex..plain.” Kenny still looked like a deer caught in the headlights but he was starting to feel more comfortable.

Andy was holding back tears, “That's okay Kenny, just tell us what you feel comfortable with. Where are your parents?”

“Th..th..th..they're d..d..d..d..dead.” Kenny had tears in his eyes as he thought back to the only people who loved and cared for him. “I u..used to live w..w..with my aunt and u..uncle t..t..t..till they th..threw me out.”

“I'm sorry to hear that, it must be tough for you dealing with everything.” Andy took a sip of his coffee. “When did they throw you out and what happened to your things?”

Kenny closed his eyes and faced the floor, “Th..th..they packed m..my case and th..th..th..threw me out a w..w..week ago. I hid th..them, I c..c..c..can g..g..get th..them.”

Jeff looked hopeful, “It's good that you still have your things, why don't you let Andy take you to get them and keep them here where it's safe. That way you can always safely get to what you need till we can do more to help.”

“Th..th..thank you.” Kenny stood, following Andy he left the office still not knowing what would happen to him but relieved that his case with everything he owned would be safe.

As they left Jeff switched on the radio just in time for the news.

“Good morning, here is the eight o'clock news. Our leading story this morning is that police have been called to Strangeways Prison to investigate the suspicious deaths of two men on the remand wing. We understand from sources that they are William Matthews and Alfred Johnson it is believed, but not confirmed, that they were arrested earlier this week in connection with abduction and sexual assault of a minor and were awaiting trial in the Crown Court. We will bring you more on this story as it unfolds. And on to the rest of this mornings news...”

Jeff sat upright in his chair, he was sure that was Bill and one of his cronies, he needed to check the files if he was right that would explain why they hadn't seen him for a while.